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Busch Gardens’ Cheetah and Puppy Pals

We often get news from Busch Gardens that makes us go “aww”, whether it’s the announcement of a new baby aardvark or a baby giraffe, but this could be one of their most heart-warming stories yet.

A year ago on 16th April, an 8 week old cheetah cub and a 16 week old female yellow Labrador pup were introduced. A year later and they are still the best of friends, travelling to schools, events and television studios to help educate the public about cheetahs in the wild and Busch Gardens’ conservation efforts.

Kasi and Mtani are the park’s first friendly pairing of a dog and big cat, but it’s not a first for the zoological community.

Male cheetahs are social and often live together in coalitions, said Tim Smith, a zoo manager who works with the cheetah team daily. This social bond will be a very similar relationship, and they will be together for life.

The pair have now become unofficial “spokespersons” for the park and ambassadors for the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, which has donated nearly $100,000 to cheetah efforts in Africa since 2005.